Need fresh eyes on this one. I like the chisel as it adds an action to the photo, and injects the humor of the idiom. Then, I look at the other version and think all the information is already there, without the chisel.

Meanwhile, my initial impression:
- Without the chisel, I think it leans the interpretation more to "broken" or "old and falling apart". At least I think it allows the viewer to have that interpretation since it is not really clear if that piece was chisled off or it just broke off.
- With the chisel, I think it makes clearer that there was intent to either destroy or change.

Scale, balance, tones, lines, etc. Even the 3/4 infers not finished yet (although I might clone it out, as it draws the eye for attention). I am of the philosophy that I'm always "er" as in "older", not to be confused with "old".

Also, like Michaelangelo "chiseled" to bring David to completion, so does life chisel at as along the way as we get "er".

What's the piece for? The blocks look a bit static. I might like to see you put something under the "D" to tilt it a bit toward us, and also some rotation/offset to (slightly) reveal the mating cleaved area.

My read on the message/point is ... Life chisels away at us as we get old"er".

I still like the idea of possibly propping the D. I'll shoot it, see how I feel about it.

The only thing I'm concerned about is that all three blocks have to work in concert to spell the word OLD. The D, other than having the chip because it's in the foreground, isn't really much more important than the O and L.

I think the chisel detracts. The message is in the blocks (which I got right away ) but the high contrast of the chisel draws your eyes straight away from the blocks. The chipped block is clear, I don't think we need to be told how it happened.

Might be the audience ... but without the chisel ... all I see is OLD, the scale of the chip is so diminutive to the collective scale of the blocks spelling out the word. Also, the volume of color in the blocks commands more attention than the chip for me. The chisel's lines help point us to the lesser element, lest we miss it in favor of the scale & color of the blocks. Of course, the contrast of the chip helps pull us to it.

Thanks for stopping in. The piece was chiseled off, but needed to have a chipped look to meet the idiom.

I think leaving the chisel out makes the message clearer. Some guys are looking at the pattern from the chisel and rightfully saying it doesn't look like a chisel strike, reading into that a bit much, others look past the chisel, others say its a distraction.

I think everyone is right.

I didn't want that rigid chisel look, because then it would detract from the idiom which uses the word "chip". I think without showing a reason how it got chipped, it reads as a chip, and works with the blocks, and the word old.

Know what I'm saying?

As for composition, it was laid out around the chisel initially, though I like the irregularity. I didn't want to stack them, too obvious, and I didn't want to set them horizontally. This seems like they were thrown down, quickly tossed together, etc.